LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 

3\h\^ 

Chap. Copyright M» 

Shelf.._,.ii.5S 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



dhe... 
Christian Sabbath. 






PRESS O) 
JkWKLL FUHLISHINC Co., 

.si'rinc;kield, mo. 



Divine Authority 



for the 



CHRISTIAN SABBATH 



-BY- 






-OK- 



so:. IvOUIS CONKKRKNCE:, 



SPRINQKIELD, NIO.. - . 






^Tolitical Romanism/' "The Christian Rule of 
Faith/' "Ingersolism/' "Baptismal Re 
mission/' "Infant Baptism/' "Wo- 
men in the General Con- 
ference/' Etc., Etc. 



"Prove all things." 



/ 



\ 



3N 



Entered according- to an Act of Congress, in the year 1896, by 

REV. G. W. HUGHEY. 

In the Of&ce of Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 

All Rights Reserved. 





PREFACE. 



Two years ago during my first year at Benton 
Avenue M. E. Church in this city, the Seventh Day 
Advent Soui-Sleepers, pitched their tent a few 
blocks east of my Church and for several weeks run 
a tent meeting, propagating their peculiar doctrines, 
and trying to proselyte others to their faith. Some 
of our people who attended their meetings and read 
their tracts, which they industriously circulated, be- 
gun to be disturbed in mind about their doctrines, 
and I felt that it was my duty to preach on those 
points, which I did, announcing beforehand that on 
the next Sabbath I would preach on "The Divine 
Authority for the Observance of the Christian Sab- 
bath.'' I prepared my sermon with great care, 
writing it out in full. Some time after I preached 
the same sermon in our District Conference at Bill- 
ings, Mo., and the Conference requested its publi- 
cation. A multiplicity of labors and cares have 
prevented ine from complying with that request 
until now. I have rewritten and enlarged it, and 
covered the whole ground, both of the Scriptural and 



Historical arguments, and the result is in the fol- 
lowing pages. It will be seen that these pestilen- 
tial troublers of our Israel have no foundation for 
their teachings, neither in the Scriptures nor in the 
early history of the Church, and that their claim 
that the early Church observed the Jewish Sabbath^ 
and that the Pope of Kome, or the Emperor Constan- 
tine changed the day of the Sabbath from the seventh 
to the first day of the week, is not only without any 
foundation in fact, but that it is positively contra- 
dicted, both by the New Testament and the early 
history of the Church. Put this antidote in every 
community that is infested with this error and let 
all men read the facts. Praying God's blessing on 
this little tract, I send it forth on its mission of truth 
and love. May it lead many out of the meshes of 
error into the clear light of God's truth, is the prayer 
of the author. 

G. W. HUGHEY. 
Springfield, Mo., July 13th, 1896. 



THE DIVINE AUTHOKITY FOE THE CHKIS- 
TIAN SABBATH. 

The two questions we propose to discuss in the 
following pages are : 

I. Are Christians under obligations to keep 
the Jewish Sabbath? 

II. What authority have we for observing the 
Christian Sabbath? 

1. That God, at the creation of man did set 
apart one day in seven as a day of rest and religious 
devotion, all admit. 

2. That from the creation to the Resurrection 
of Christ that day was the seventh day, all admit. 

3. While the Sabbath was instituted at the 
creation of man, at the giving of the law it was in- 
corporated into the Mosaic Institutes, not only in 
the Ten Commandments, but also into the law of 
Moses, and it henceforth became a part of that law, 
and it was binding on the Israelites as long as the 
law of Moses was binding. 

4. The same authority which enjoined the 
seventh day upon the Israelites was certainly com- 



6 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

petent to abrogate that day and enjoin the first day 
of the week — the day on which Christ arose from 
the dead, as the day henceforth to be observed by 
the Church of the Lord Jesus as the day of rest and 
religious worship in memory of the completion of the 
work of redemption on that day. 

5. The inspired Apostles, acting under the com- 
mand of the Lord Jesus, or under the inspiration of 
the Holy Spirit, were certainly competent to ordain 
this change of the day of rest and worship from the 
seventh to the first day of the week. 

6. Did they abrogate the Jewish, or Seventh- 
Day Sabbath, and institute in its place the first day 
of the week as the Christian Sabbath? This is a 
question of fact, that can be settled only by an ap- 
peal to Apostolic teaching and practice. 

7. The fact of the change of the Sabbath from 
the seventh to the firsr day of the week may be 
proved in three ways : — 

a. By a law or command abrogating the Mo- 
saic Institutes and declaring that they are not bind- 
ing on the Christian Church. 

b. By a declaration that the first day of the 
w^eek is the Sabbath. 

c. By establishing the fact by Apostolic com- 
mand or example that the first day of the week was 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 7 

ordained or observed by the Apostles as the Chris- 
tian Sabbath. Did they in any or all of these ways 
change the Sabbath from the seventh to the first 
day of the week? 

8. It is an undeniable fact of Christian History, 
that from the day of the resurrection of our Lord the 
Apostles, and Apostolic Church, did observe the first 
day of the week as the day of Christian worship and 
thanksgiving, and they gave this day, and no other, 
to the Gentile Church as the day of rest or Sabbath, 
and the Gentile Christians never observed any other 
day as the Sabbath from the beginning of the Chris- 
tian Church. 

9. The Jewish Christians, especially those who 
lived in Judea and Jerusalem during the first cen- 
tury observed the law of Moses, had their children 
circumcised, and until the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem offered sacrifices and observed the law in all 
things. But this in no wise makes the law of Moses 
binding on the Christian Church, nor did the Apos- 
tles, nor the Jewish Church make any such require- 
ments of the Gentile Christians. When some Juda- 
izing teachers in the Apostolic Church attempted 
to put "this yoke" on the neck of the Gentile Chris- 
tians, the Apostles and the Church at Jerusalem 
promptly negatived that claim and set the Gentile 



8 THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 

Church free from the requirements of the law. 
The Jewish Christians observed the customs of the 
law, simply as national customs in which they had 
been brought up, and hence the Apostles did not in- 
terfere with them, indeed they observed the law 
themselves for the sake of their influence with theit 
Jewish brethren. In confirmation of this, see 
Acts, 21:20-26 : 

"20. And when they heard it, they glorified the 
Lord, and said unto him. Thou seest, brother, how 
many thousands of Jews there are which believe ; 
and they are all zealous of the law : 

21. And they are informed of thee, that thou 
teachest all the Jews which are among the Gentiles 
to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to cir- 
cumcise their children, neither to walk after their 
customs. 

"22. What is it tlierefore? the multitude must 
needs come together : for they will hear that thou 
art come. 

23. Do therefore this that we say to thee : We 
have four men which have a vow on them; 

24. Them take, and purify thyself with them, 
and be at charges with them, that they may shave 
their heads; and all may know that those things, 
whereof they were informed concerning thee, are 
nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, 
and keepest the law. 

25. As touching the Gentiles which believe, we 
have written and concluded that thev observe no 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 9 

such thing, save only that they keep themselves from 
things offered to idols, and from blood, and from 
strangled, and from fornication. 

26. Then Paul took the men, and the next day 
purifying himself with them entered into the temple, 
to signify the accomplishment of the days of purifica- 
tion, until that an offering should be offered for every 
one of them." 

Here are three facts stated that we must note : 

1. All the Jewish Christians of Jerusalem 
"were zealous of the law," and had their children 
circumcised. Now, if the fact that the Jewish 
Christians kept the Jewish Sabbath during the 
Apostolic age, and while James, our Lord's brother^ 
was at the head of the Church in Jerusalem, there- 
fore we ought to keep the Jewish Sabbath, it follows 
with equal force that we ought to circumcise our chil- 
dren and keep the whole law of Moses, because the 
Jewish Christians unquestionably did all of these 
things, and they were not condemned for it either by 
James, or the other Apostles. 

2. Paul did teach Gentile Christians, and the 
Jews among them, not to observe the law of Moses, 
nor to have their children circumcised. 

3. That the Church at Jerusalem had written 
to the Gentile Christians "that they observe no such 
things;" that is, that they should not ob- 



10 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

sene the law of Moses, nor circumcise their chil- 
dren, nor keep the Jewish Sabbath. 

10. During the whole of the Apostolic period, 
notwithstanding the decree of the Council of Jeru- 
salem, Acts 15:23-29, there were Judaizing teachers 
who troubled the Gentile Churches, endeavoring to 
bring them under the yoke of the law, and teaching 
them that except they observed the law of Moses, 
liad their children circumcised, and kept the Jewish 
Sabbath, they could not be saved. The Epistles 
of Paul were written, in a very large measure to 
counteract this pernicious teaching. This appears 
notably in his Epistle to the Galatians, and Colos- 
ians. In Col. 2:14-23 he condemns all this Judaizing 
teaching, and formally declares that the law with all 
its ordinances, including its holy days and Sabbaths, 
was abolished in Christ. He says : — 

14. "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances 
that was against us, which was contrary to us, and 
took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; 

15. And having spoiled principalities and pow- 
ers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over 
them in it. 

16. Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or 
in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new 
moon, or of the Sabbath days : 

17. Which are a shadow of things to come; but 
the body is of Christ. 



THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 11 

18. Let no man beguile you of your reward in 
a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, in- 
triding into those things which he hath not seen, 
vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 

19. And not holding the Head, from which all 
the body by joints and bands having nourishment 
ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the 
increase of God. 

20. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from 
the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in 
the world, are ye subject to ordinances, 

21. (Touch not; taste not; handle not; 

22. Which all are tO' perish with the using;) 
after the commandments and doctrines of men? 

23. Which things have indeed a show of wis- 
dom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting 
of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of 
the flesh." 

On this passage we note, 1, that Paul here 
affirms that Christ, by his death, "blotted out the 
handwriting of ordinances that was against us, 
and which was contrary unto us, and took it out 
of the way, nailing it to his cross." How far this 
"blotting out" and "taking away" extends we are 
told in verse 16 — "Let no man judge (that is con- 
demn) you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of any 
holyday, or the new moon, OK THE SABBATH 
DAYS." All Jewish distinctions in regard to "meats 
and drinks or in respect to their holydays, new 



12 THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 

jQoons or Sabbaths/' are done away in Christ. Here 
we have a positive and specific abrogation of the 
Jewish Sabbath. In our translation we have "Sab- 
l:)ath-days," but "days'' is not in the original at all. 
It is simply "Sabbatoon," the neuter plural of "Sab- 
baton" — Sabbath, and literally translated it is "Sab- 
baths/' and includes all the Jewish Sabbaths, or 
Sabbaths of the law. There is no possible escape 
here. If the law in regard to "meats and drinks, 
and new moons, and holydays" was" blotted out" 
or done away in Christ, the plural form of the word 
includes all the days among the Jews called Sab- 
baths, and this declaration abrogates them all. In 
verses 22 and 23 the Gentile Christians are expressly 
forbidden to observe or use these Jewish "ordi- 
nances," and Paul declares that they were not to 
be enjoined on the Gentile Churches "after the com- 
mandments and doctrines of men." This is a posi- 
tive declaration that the only authority that exists in 
the Christian Church for the observance of the Jew- 
ish Sabbath, is "the commandments and doctrines 
{didaskalias) teachings of men." The Jewish Sab- 
bath is not enjoined upon the Christian Church by 
the commandments and teachings of God ; but only 
^*by the commandments and teachings of men." 
Which shall we obey, "the commandments and 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 13 

teachings" of God, or "the commandments and 
teachings of men?" This passage ought to be suffi- 
cient to satisfy every Christian mind that the Mosaic 
law, with all of its ordinances, holy days and Sab- 
baths has been abolished in Christ, and that Chris- 
tians are not only not under obligations to observe 
them, but that they are positively forbidden to do so. 
11. In the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the 
Apostles, we have this whole question settled by 
a formal decree of the Apostles and elders, and rati- 
fied by the whole Church at Jerusalem. The Church 
at Antioch, a Gentile Church, was greatly troubled 
by the Judaizing teachers, who came down from Je- 
rusalem and taught the Gentile Christians and said : 
^^Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses 
ye cannot be saved." Paul and Barnabas opposed 
them, and after a good deal of debating and conten- 
tion it was finally decided that the whole question 
should be referred to the Apostles and elders at Jeru- 
salem. The question was brought before them, and 
all parties were fully heard, and then a definite de- 
cision was reached. In verse 5 we read : — 

5. "But there rose up certain of the sect of the 
Pharisees which believed, saying. That it was need- 
ful to circumcise them, and to command them to 
keep the law of Moses." 



14 THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 

After the question had been fully discussed, the 
Council agreed, and sent the following letter to the 
Gentile Churches : — 

23. "And they wrote letters by them after this 
manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send 
greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles 
in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia : 

24. Forasmuch as we have heard, that certain 
which went out from us have troubled you with 
words, subverting your souls, saying, Ye must be 
circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no 
such commandment : 

25. It seemed good unto us, being assembled 
with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with 
our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 

26. Men that have hazarded their lives for the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, 
who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. 

28. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and 
to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these 
necessary things ; 

29. That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, 
and from blood, and from things strangled, and from 
fornication : from which if ye keep yourselves, ye 
shall do well. Fare ye well." 

If there ever was a time for the Apostles to en- 
join the Jewish Sabbath on the Gentile Christians 
this was the time, but they did nothing of the kind ; 
but on the other hand, they decreed that the law of 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 15 

Moses, with all of its ordinances, circumcision, holy- 
<3ays and SABBATHS, were not binding on the Gen- 
tile Christians. Certain things they did enjoin, but 
the Sabbath was not one of them — it was not among 
'^^the necessary things,'' enjoined. It is impossible 
for us to conceive how such an omission could have 
occurred, if the Jewish Sabbath had been enjoined 
on the Gentile Christians. The fact that this decree 
is silent on the question is decisive evidence that the 
Apostles did not, and did not intend to enjoin the 
Jewish Sabbath on the Christian Church.^ 

12. The use of the words "Sabbatoon and "Sab- 
baton'' in the New Testament proves that the Apos- 
tles recognized the first day of the week as the Chris- 
tian Sabbath, for they called it "the first of the Sab- 
baths" or "the first Sabbath." The word "Sab- 
haton" in its various forms, is used sixty-eight (68) 
times in the New Testament. Of this number it is 
translated fifty-nine (59) times "Sabbath." 
Eight times it is translated "first day 
of the week," and once it is transla- 
ted "week," Lu. 18:12, where it properly 
means "between the Sabbath." In every example 
in the New Testament where we read, "first day of 
the week," in regard to the resurrection of Christ, 
or the day of the weekly meetings of the Christians, 



16 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

in the original, it is "the first of the Sabbaths," or 
the "first Sabbath." The day on which Christ arose 
from the dead, is always called "the first of the Sab- 
baths," or "the first Sabbath," except in one single 
instance, Eev. 1:10, where it is called "the Lord's 
day." Now, we ask, Why should these words al- 
ways be translated "Sabbath," when they refer to 
the "Jewish Sabbath," and the "first day of the 
week," always when they refer to the Christian Sab- 
bath? In not one single one of these examples do we 
find either "day" or "week" in the original; it is 
simply "Sabbatoon" or "Sabbaton" preceded by 
mian, mia or prootee. Matthew says : Opse de 
Sabbatoon, tee epiphooskausee eis mian Sabbatoon, 
which literally rendered is : "In the end of the Sab- 
baths, as it dawned into the first of the Sabbaths." 
If Matthew had tried to frame an expression that 
would have most clearly declared that the Sabbath 
that Jesus lay in the tomb was the last of the Jewish 
Sabbaths, and that the day on which he arose from 
the dead was the first of the Christian Sabbaths, he 
could not have framed a sentence that would have 
more accurately set forth that fact in the whole 
range of the Greek language than the words he uses 
here. Was this accidental or was it designed? 
What right had our translators to translate sabba- 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. IT 

toon Sabbath in one part of this sentence, and "the 
first day of the week,'' in the other part, when it is 
exactly the same word and the same form of the 
word in both instances? Plainly they had no au- 
thority for it at all, and the rule adopted by which 
"Sabbattoon" and "Sabbton," when they mean the 
Christian Sabbath are always translated "first day 
of the week/' is an arbitrary one and without au- 
thority. 

Mark 16:2 literally rendered reads : "And very 
early in the morning, the first of the Sabbaths." 
Mark 16:9 literally rendered reads : "Now when 
Jesus was risen early the first Sabbath." What 
right had our translators to translate "sabbatoon'^ 
in Ma. 16:1 Sabbath, and in Ma. 16:2 "the first day 
of the week?" Plainly, none whatever. In Luke 
24:1 literally rendered we read : "Now the first of 
the Sabbaths, at early dawn." 

In John 20 :1 literally rendered we read : "Now 
the first of the Sabbaths." In all these examples 
from the Gospels "sabbatoon" is translated "the first 
day of the week." 

In Acts 20:7 we read : "And upon the first of 
the Sabbaths." "Sabbatoon" is here again transla- 
ted "the first day of the week." 

In 1st Cor. 16:2 we have "sabbatoon" again 



18 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

translated "the first day of the week." By examin- 
ing every one of these passages you will see that the 
word day is printed in italics, which informs you that 
it is not in the original but is supplied by the trans- 
lators. By translating "Sabbatoon" "week" our 
translators were compelled to supply the word "day" 
in order to make sense. Is it a supposable case that 
all of the Evangelists and Paul would have made 
the same omission and no one of them would have 
ever inserted the word "day," if they meant by "Sab- 
batoon" "week?" We cannot suppose. such a case, 
and yet we are bound to assume that that was the 
case, if they meant by "Sabbatoon" "week," thus 
compelling our translators in every case to supply 
their omission ! ! They did not make any omission. 
They wrote just what they intended to write, and 
they called the day of Christ's resurrection "the first 
of the Sabbaths," and the "first Sabbath." This is 
the title by which the Christian Sabbath is distin- 
guished from the Jewish Sabbath in the New Tes- 
tament. We must remember that the Gospels, the 
Acts and the Epistles were not written until from 
fifteen to sixty or seventy years after the resurrec- 
tion of Christ, and that, as we shall see directly, the 
Christian Sabbath had been established by the au- 
thority of our Lord and His Apostles, and the terms 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 1^ 

applied to it in the New Testament were well under- 
stood and became established usage, and this day 
was known among the Apostolic Christians, as the 
Christian Sabbath, and styled in contradistinction 
from the Jewish Sabbath, "the first of the Sabbaths,'^ 
or "the first Sabbath.'' 

13. From the day of Christ's resurrection the 
Apostles and Apostolic Church met on the first day 
of the week, or Christian Sabbath, for their special 
Christian worship. On this day our Lord showed 
Himself first to Mary Magdalene, then to Peter, then 
to the two disciples on the w^ay to Emmaus, and then 
to the ten assembled in the evening. In John 
20:19-23 we read : 

"19. Then the same day at evening, being the 
first day of the week when the doors 
were shut where the disciples were assembled for 
fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, 
and saith unto them. Peace be unto you. 

20. And when he had so said, he shewed unto 
them his hands and his side. Then were the disci- 
ples glad, when they saw the Lord. 

21. Then said Jesus unto them again. Peace 
be unto you : as my Father hath sent me, even so 
send I you. 

22. And when he had said this, he breathed 
on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy 
Ghost : 

23. Whosesoever sins ye remit, they are re- 



20 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

mitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, 
they are retained." 

This was the first public meeting of the Lord 
with His disciples after His resurrection, and it took 
place on the evening of the day that He arose from 
the dead, which is here called the "the first of the 
"Sabbaths." 

It reads, literally : "The same day at evening, 
being the first of the Sabbaths." In the first clause of 
this sentence we have the word, "hemera," "the 
same day at evening." But in the next clause it is 
absent, as it always is in connection with "Saba- 
toon," or "Sabbaton," when translated "the first day 
of the week." Why put in "hemera" day in the 
first clause and leave it out in the second? 
Because it does not belong to the second clause, for 
John did not say "the first day of the week," but he 
said, "the first of the Sabbaths." 

In verse 26 of the same chapter we read : — 

26. And after eight days again his disciples, 
were within, and Thomas with them : then came 
Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, 
and said. Peace be unto you." 

"After eight days," here does not mean the ninth 
day, but the eighth day. This meeting, like the 
former, was doubtless in the evening, and accord- 
ing to the Jewish reckoning it would be at the close 
of the eighth day, or the eighth day in the evening, 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 21 

and John follows the Eoman reckoning, which would 
make it the eighth day in the evening. We have 
two examples of this expression in the New Testa- 
ment which show clearly what John meant by the 
^expression "after eight days.'^ In Matt. 27:63: 

62. "Now the next day, that followed the day 
of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees 
came together unto Pilate, 

63. Saying, Sir, we remember that deceiver 
said, while he was yet alive. After three days I ^rv^ill 
rise again." 

And in Ma. 8:31 :— 

31. "And he began to teach, them, that the Son 
of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of 
the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and 
be killed, and after three days rise again." 

Here "after three days" does not mean "the 
fourth day," but "the third day." Jesus did not rise 
on "the fourth day" after His crucifixion, but on "the 
third day." So "after eight days," does not 
mean "the ninth day," but "the eighth day." It is 
thus shown that the risen Christ's second public ap- 
pearance to His disciples was on the first weekly an- 
niversary of His resurrection, when they were assem- 
bled for Christian worship on this second Christian 
Sabbath. The Holy Ghost descended on the Apos- 
tles, and on the assembled Church as they were 



22 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

gathered together for worship on the seventh weekly 
anniversary of the resurrection of Christ, on the Day 
of Pentecost, which was the Christian Sabbath, and 
the great commission was on that day countersigned 
by "the promise of the Father,'' and the door of 
Faith and Gospel Grace was opened to all the world,^ 
and the New Dispensation was inaugurated on that 
blessed day by the descent of the Holy Spirit and 
the conversion of three thousand souls. The risen 
and ascended Christ then set His seal upon this Holy 
day, and sanctified it, and set it apart as the day of 
days in His Church. Is there no significance to the 
Church in all these facts? 

14. The first day of the week, or the Christian 
Sabbath, was set apart by the Apostles as the daj 
of the public assemblies for Christian worship in all 
the Christian Churches, and on it they assembled for 
the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and other acts 
of religious worship. In Acts 20:7, we read : — 

7. "And upon the first day of the week, when 

the disciples came together to break bread, Paul 

preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; 
and continued his speech until midnight." The 

literal reading of this passage is : — 

"And in the first of the Sabbaths." 

The expression "breaking of bread," Acts 2:42,. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 23 

and "to break bread/' in this passage unquestionably 
means the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, and this 
passage proves that the Christian Sabbath was the 
day set apart for that solemn service in the Churches. 
In 1st Cor. 16 :l-2, we read : — 

1. "Now concerning the collection for the 
saints, as I have given order to the churches of Ga- 
latia, even so do ye. 

2. Upon the first day of the week let every one 
of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered 
him, that there be no gatherings when I come." 

We learn from this passage that the Apostle 
Paul ordained in all the Churches of the Gentiles the 
custom of weekly contributions for the poor, which 
were made on "the first of the Sabbaths," or the 
Christian Sabbath, in the weekly assemblies of the 
Christians. But it is objected that Paul says, 
**Upon the first day of the week let every one of you 
lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him," 
and that this does not mean that they were to bring 
it to the Church on that day, but lay it by at home. 
But this, if it were true, would not help our Seventh- 
Day friends at all, for the passage proves conclu- 
gjively that the Christian working week ended on 
Saturday and not Friday night. If the Christian 
week had ended on Friday, then the "laying by" for 
the poor would have taken place on Saturday, the 



24 THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 

Jewish Sabbath, and not on Sunday, the Christian 
Sabbath. "The laying by" was to take place at 
the end of the working week, when the profits of 
the week's work were known. The Christian'^ 
working week closed Saturday night, and then the 
profits of the week's work were counted, and every 
one was commanded to "lay by," or put into the 
treasury, according as he had prospered. This pass- 
age proves conclusively that the Christian working 
week began on Monday and ended on Saturday, and 
that the "laying by" took place when the people had 
found out the result of their week's work. They 
could not "lay by in store as God had prospered 
them" until they knew they had prospered, and this 
they could not know until the week's work was 
ended, and they did it after the week's work had 
ended on Saturday night ! So this subterfuge fails 
entirely, for this passage proves that the Christian 
working week included Saturday, the Jewish Sab- 
bath, and that Sunday was the Christian day of rest 
and religious assemblies and worship. But the last 
clause completely sets aside this subterfuge, for it 
says, "That there be no gatherings when I come." 
If every man had laid by in his private poor box at 
home on "the first of the Sabbaths," then the gath- 
ering or public collection, must necessarily have 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 25 

taken place when Paul came; but it was to avoid 
this very thing that he had established this order 
of weekly contributions in their public assemblies 
on the Christian Sabbath. 

Ekastos humoon par eautoo tithetoo thesaurid- 
zoon elthoo tote logioo ginoontai, literally rendered 
reads : "Every one of you for himself put into the 
treasury as he hath prospered, that there be no col- 
lection when I come." 

It was the uniform custom of the Jews to take 
their contributions for the poor to the synagogue on 
the Sabbath, and put them into the treasury or box- 
for the poor, so that there should always be some- 
thing on hand for the relief of the poor and helpless. 
The Christian Church was modeled after the Syna- 
gogue, and Paul here ordains this custom in the 
Gentile Churches of bringing their contributions for 
the poor on the Christian Sabbath, and putting them 
into the treasury or poor box, so they would be ready 
when he came, and thus avoid a public collection 
for this purpose. We learn from Justin Martyr 
that this was the uniform custom of the Churches in 
his day, A. D. 140. This is further confirmed by 
the fact already established from Acts 20:7, that 
this was the day set apart for religious worship and 
instruction. 



2^ THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 

Jesus appeared to John the beloved disciple on 
the Christian Sabbath, on the Isle of Patmos, and 
gave him the wonderful vision of the Apocalypse. 
John says : "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."" 
Though this is the only place in the New Testament 
where the Christian Sabbath is called ''the Lord's 
day," yet we know by writers immediately after 
John, and by one at least who was cotemporary 
with him, Ignatius of Antioch, that this was a com- 
mon title of the Christian Sabbath. Was it acci- 
dental that all these things to which we have re- 
ferred, from the first public meeting of Christ with 
His disciples after His resurrection to the giving of 
the wonderful vision of the Apocalypse, all occurred 
on the Christian Sabbath, or did the risen Lord in- 
tend bv these things to teach the sanctitv of this- 
holy day and thus sanctify it and set it apart as the 
Sabbath of His Church, in memory of His resurrec- 
tion, and His completed redemption? We cannot 
believe that they were either accidental or insignifi- 
cant. They were divinely arranged, and they sig- 
nify to us that our risen Lord has set apart this day 
as the Sabbath of His Church, and that we are to 
keep it joyfully in memory of Kedemption's comple- 
ted work in His resurrection from the dead. 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 27 

Let us recapitulate our Scripture argument for 
a moment. We stated at the outset that there are 
three ways by which it may be proved that the first 
day of the week, the day on which Christ arose from 
the dead, has been set apart by divine authority as 
the Christian Sabbath. 

1. By a declaration of the New Testament, that 
the day of Christ's resurrection is the Christian Sab- 
bath. We have proved that the uniform title of 
this day in the New Testament is "the first of the Sab- 
baths," or "the first Sabbath." There is but one excep- 
tion to this, and that is, Rev. 1 :10, where it is called 
^^the Lord's day." This alone ought to be sufficient to 
settle the question in every thoughtful mind. 

2. By a law or command abrogating the law 
of Moses, and declaring that it is not binding on the 
Christian Church. We have proved that this was 
done by a formal act of the Apostles, elders and 
brethren of the Church in Jerusalem, in Council 
assembled, presided over by James, our Lord's broth- 
er, when the case was brought before then on an 
appeal from the Church at Antioch, recorded in 
Acts 15:22-29.. We should also note that Paul 
in Collossians 2:16, did specifically and by name, set 
aside the Jewish Sabbath among a number of other 
things named by him. 



28 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

3. By establishing by Apostolic precept or ex- 
ample, the first day of the week as the Christian Sab- 
bath. We have demonstrated, out of the Holy 
Scriptures, that this was the uniform practice of 
the Apostles from the day of Christ's resurrection to 
the end of the Apostolic age, and that this day alone 
was given to the Gentile Christians as the Sabbath 
of the Lord. These facts ought to silence every 
word of opposition to the Christian Sabbath. 

14. But, in confirmation of the Scripture argu- 
ment herein set forth, and in refutation of the claim 
made by our "Seventh Day" friends, that the Church 
of Kome or Constantine the Emperor, or some one 
else changed the day which the early Christians ob- 
served as the Sabbath, from the seventh to the first 
day of the week, we will examine the records of the 
early Church on this question. It is a very cheap 
way to answer an unanswerable argument by an 
appeal to prejudice, by saying "the Roman Catholic 
Church did it.'' 

I state here deliberately, and with full knowl- 
edge of what I say, that the man who states that the 
Roman Catholic Church or Constantine the Great 
changed the Christian Sabbath from the seventh to 
the first day of the week, either does not know 
whereof he affirms, or states what he knows is not 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 2^ 

true. For every one at all acquainted with the history 
of the early Church knows that such a statement is 
utterly false. But, you ask, "Does not the Church 
of Rome claim that she changed the day?" Very 
likely she does, for she claims everything! She 
claims that she is the only true and Apostolic 
Church. She claims that she gave us the Holy 
Scriptures, and that we cannot prove either their 
authenticity or their inspiration without her author- 
ity. She claims that her Popes are infallible, and 
that full power is given to them by the Lord Jesus 
"to feed, to rule, and to govern the whole Church." 
But do these high claims prove that she has such 
power, or that she did what she claims to have done? 
The Roman Catholic Church, as a great ecclesiastical 
power, as she now exists, had no existence during the 
first six centuries of the Christian era, and conse- 
quently she could do nothing before that period, for 
the simple reason that she had no existence ! When 
you hear any one speaking of what the Roman Cath- 
olic Church did during the first six Christian centu- 
ries you may know that he does not know what he 
is talking about, for he is speaking of a nonen- 
tity! It was not until after the death of Gregory 
the Great, A. D. 604, that the Bishop of Rome became 
the Bishop of Bishops, and the Church of Rome 



30 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

became the mistress of all other Churches. It is 
from these events that we must date the birth of 
the Roman Catholic Church. 

But what are the facts of ecclesiastical his- 
tory during the first Christian centuries on this 
point, and long before the Roman Catholic Church 
had an existence, and before the Emperor Constan- 
tine was born? Dr. Mosheim in his Ecclesiastical 
History of the First Century, says : 

"All Christians were unanimous in setting apart 
the first day of the week, on which the triumphant 
Savious arose from the dead, for the solemn celebra- 
tion of public worship. This pious custom, which was 
derived from the example of the Church at Jerusalem, 
was founded upon the express appointment of the 
Apostles, who consecrated that day to the same sacred 
purpose, and was observed universally throughout 
the Christian Churches, as appears from the united 
testimony of the most credible writers. The sev- 
enth day of the week was also observed as a festi- 
val, not by the Christians in general, but by such 
Churches only as were principally composed of 
Jewish converts; nor did the other Christians 
assume this custom as criminal or unlawful.'^ (p. 
27.) 

The great Dr. Neander, the Ecclesiastical His- 
torian, states the same thing. Vol. I. p. 295, of his 
Ecclesiastical History. He says : — 

"The opposition to Judaism early led to the 



THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 31 

special observance of Sunday in place of the Sab- 
bath. The first intimation of this change is in 
Acts 20:7, where we find the Church assembled on 
the first day of the week; a still later one is in Rev. 
1:10 whereby the ^Lord's day' can hardly be under- 
stood the day of judgment. Thus in the Catholic 
epistle of Barnabas, at the close of the fifteenth chap- 
ter, Sunday is designated as the day of jubilee in 
remembrance of Christ's resurrection and ascension 
to heaven, and of the new creation which then com- 
menced; and in the epistle of Ignatius to the Mag- 
nesians it is proposed that even the Jews who had 
come over to Christianity substituted Sunday in 
place of the Sabbath. As the Sabbath was regard- 
ed as representing Judaism, Sunday was contem- 
plated as a symbol of the new life consecrated to the 
living Christ and grounded in his resurrection. 
Sunday was distinguished as a day of joy, by being 
exempted from fasts, and by the circumstance that 
prayer was performed on this day in a standing and 
not in a kneeling posture, as Christ, by his resurrec- 
tion, had raised up fallen man again to heaven." 

We ask, are the statements of these eminent and 
learned Ecclesiastical Historians borne out by the 
facts of early Church history? We answer most em- 
phatically, they are. Let us now appeal to the 
early Christian writers — men who lived in the Apos- 
tolic Age, and immediately thereafter, and who 
knew what the teaching of the Apostles was, and see 
what they have to say on this point. 



32 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

1. Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, who was born 
about A. D. 30, and who suffered martyrdom in Eome 
by being thrown to the wild beasts, A. D. 107, in his 
epistle to the Magnesians, written while on his jour- 
ney to Rome, says : — 

"If, therefore, those who were brought up in the 
ancient order of things, have come to the possession 
of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but 
living in the observance of the Lord's day, on which 
also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His 
death/' — Anti-Nicene Library, Vol. 1, p. 62. 

Did Ignatius know what the customs and com- 
mands of the Apostles were? He lived all through 
the Apostolic Age, was cotemporary with all the 

Apostles, and was appointed by them to the pastor- 
ate of the Church at Antioch, and was bishop or pas- 
tor of that Church at least twenty-five years during 
the lifetime of the Apostle John. He was no doubt 
at Antioch when the controversy arose in that 
Church in regard to circumcision, and observing the 
law of Moses, recorded in Acts 15, and he certainly 
understood what the decree of the Council of Jeru- 
salem meant, and whether it abrogated the Jewish 
Sabbath or not. In view of this fact, his testimony 
becomes the more important, as it proves conclu- 
sively that the decree of the Council of Jerusalem, 
recorded in Acts 15:28-29, did abrogate the Jewish 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 33 

Sabbath, along with all other things in the law of 
Moses. 

This Apostolic man testifies that in his day the 
Jewish Sabbath was not observed by the Gentile 
.Christians and that the Lord's day was observed, 
and that many converted Jews, adopting the Gentile 
custom, which had been ordained by the Apostles, 
no longer observed the Sabbath, but kept "the Lord's 
day.'- 

2. In the epistle of Barnabas, written not later '1 

than the first part of the second century, we read : — 

"Further, He says to them, your new moons, 
and your Sabbaths I cannot endure. Ye perceive 
how He speaks : Your present Sabbaths are not 
acceptable to Me, but that which I have made 
(namely this), when giving rest to all things, I shall 
make a beginning of the eighth day, that is a be- 
ginning of another world. Wherefore, also, we 
keep the eighth day with joyfulness, the day also 
on which Jesus arose from the dead." — Ibid. p. 147. 

This passage shows that immediately after the 
Apostles, the Church looked upon the Sabbath as a 
typical institution, having fulfilled its end ceased 
to be binding, while the eighth day on which Jesus 
arose from the dead, was observed as the Chris- 
tian Sabbath. 

2. We will next hear the testimony of Justin 



34 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

Martyr. This eminent Christian writer was born at 

Flavia Neapolis, a city of Samaria, near Jacob's 

well. The date of his birth is uncertain, but it could 

not have been later than A. D. 100. He suffered 

martyrdom in the reign of Marcus Aurelius, A. D. 

165. He wrote his First Apology for the Christians 

to the Emperor Antoninus Pius, A. D. 140. In that 

Apology, chapt. 67, he says : — 

"And on the day called Sunday all who live in 
cities or in the country came together to one place, 
and the memoirs out of the Apostles or the writings 
of the prophets are read as long as time permits; then 
when the reader has ceased, the president verbally 
instructs and exhorts to the imitations of these good 
things. Then we all rise together and pray, and, 
as we before said, when our prayer is ended, bread 
and wine is brought, and the president in like man- 
ner offers prayers and thanksgiving, according to 
his ability, and the people assent, saying. Amen; 
and there is a distribution to each, and a participa- 
tion of that over which thanks have been given, and 
to those who are absent a portion is sent by the dea- 
cons. And they who are well to do, and willing 
give what each sees fit, and what is collected is de- 
l)osited with the president, who succors the orphans 
and widows, and those who through sickness or any 
other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds, 
and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a 
word takes care of all who need. But Sunday is 
the da}' on which we all hold our common assembly 



THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 35 

because it is the first day on which God, having 
wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made 
the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the 
same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified 
on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and 
on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of 
the Sun, having appeared to His Apostles and dis- 
ciples. He taught them these things, which we have 
submitted to you also for your consideration.'' — ■ 
Ibid. p. 186. 

Here we have the testimony of one of the most 
eminent writers of the First century, only forty years 
after the death of the Apostle John, that "alP' the 
Christians, "who live in cities, or in the country, 
gather together in one place,'' on "Sunday" for re- 
ligious worship; and he affirms that "Sunday is the 
day on which we all hold our common assembly." 
Did Justin know what the custom of the Church 
was in his day? I suppose no one will call in ques- 
tion his knowledge of the custom of the Church on 
this point. If the day was changed, it was changed 
during the forty years that elapsed between the 
death of the Apostle John, and the writing of this 
Apology, and the obserTance of Sunday had become 
Universal in that short period ! ! But here the 
advocates of the seventh day are met with the diffi- 
culty that both Ignatius and Barnabas, as we have 
seen, declare that Sunday was observed in their day, 



36 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. • 

during the life of the Apostle John, and that the 
Christians did not observe the Jewish Sabbath ! 
The testimony of these three eminent writers of the 
first part of the second century is decisive as to 
the practice of the Apostolic and Post- Apostolic 
Church in regard to the observance of the Christain 
Sabbath. Justin also tells us that the custom es- 
tablished by Paul, of the weekly contribution for 
the poor, on the Christian Sabbath, 1st Cor. 16:1-2, 
was observed in the Church. Justin also affirms 
that Jesus, after His resurrection, ^'having appeared 
to his Apostles and disciples. He taught them these 
things," thus affirming that Jesus, after His resur- 
rection, did command "His Apostles and disciples," 
to observe the day of His resurrection, as the Chris- 
tian Sabbath. Eemember that Justin lived with ' 
Apostolic men, that is, men who lived with the 
Apostles, and that he therefore had the best possi- j 
ble opportunity of knowing whether the Apostles 
taught the Church that the risen Lord commanded 
them to keep the first day of the week, the day of 
His resurrection, as the Christian Sabbath. In 
view of these facts, what becomes of the claim of 
the advocates of the Seventh day, that the day was 
changed by the Church of Eome, or by the Emperor 
Constantine? 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 37 

In his Dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Justin 
frequently speaks of the Sabbath, and af&rms that 
the Christians did not observe it, and justifies their 
non-observance of it on the ground that Abraham 
and the Patriarchs did not observe it. In chapt. 

23 he says : — 

"Where, Trypho, I will proclaim to you, and to 
those who Avish to become prosel^'tes, the divine 
message which I heard from that man. Do you 
see that the elements are not idle, and keep no Sab- 
bath? Eemain as you were born. Fof if there 
was no need of circumcision before Abraham, or of 
the observance of Sabbaths, of feasts and sacrifices 
before Moses; no more is there need of them now, 
after that, according to the will of God, Jesus Christ 
the Son of God has been born without sin, of a virgin 
sprung from the stock of Abraham.'' — Anti-Nicine 
Library, Vol. I. p. 206. 

In Chapt 26, p. 207, he says : — 

"But the Gentiles, who have believed in Him, 
and have repented of sins which they have commit- 
ted, they shall receive the inheritance along with the 
patriarchs and prophets, and the just men who are 
descended from Jacob, even although they neither 
keep the Sabbath, nor are circumcised, nor observe 
the feasts. Assuredly they shall receive the holy 
inheritance of God ! ! 

Here Justin positiyely affirms that the Gentile 

Christians did not keep the Sabbath. 

Again, in chapt. 17, p. 218, he says : — 



38 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

"But if some, through weakmindedness, wish to 
observe such institutions as were given by Moses, 
from which they expect some virtue, but which we 
believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of 
the people's hearts, along with their hope in this 
Christ, and (wish to perform) the eternal and natu- 
ral acts of righteousness and piety, yet choose to live 
with the Christians and the faithful, as I said 
before, not inducing them either to be circumcised 
like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to ob- 
serve any other such ceremonies, then I hold that 
we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate 
with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren." 

Here Justin calls those Jewish Christians who 
still observed the law of Moses, and kept the Sab- 
bath, as "weak-minded;" but still he would not non- 
fellowship them as long as they did not require the 
Gentile Christians to do as they did, and keep the 
Sabbath. Is any further testimony necessary to 
show that in Justin's time the Christians did not 
observe the Jewish Sabbath, but that they did ob- 
serve "the Lord's day," or the Christian Sabbath? 
Surely if any facts can be proven by testimony, these 
two facts are established. If there has been a 
change of the day, it has been from the first to the 
seventh, and not from the seventh to the first, and 
the advocates of the seventh day have made the 
change, and they are responsible for it I 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. S9 

4. Bardesanes the Heretic, in addressing Mar- 
cus Aurelius Antoninus, who ascended the throne 
A. D. 161, and died, 180, says : — 

"What, then, shall we say respecting the new 
race of ourselves who are Christians, whom in every 
country and in every region the Messiah established 
at His coming; for, lo ! wherever one be, all of us 
are called by the one name of the Messiah, Chris- 
tians; and upon one day, which is the first day of 
the week, assemble ourselves together." 

Here both orthodox and heretic testifies that 

all Christians held their public assembles on the first 

day of the week, or the Christian Sabbath. 

5. The teachings of the twelve Apostles, sup- 
posed by many to date as early as the first half of 
the second century, and probably not later than 
the last half of the second century, in chapt. XIV., 
says : 

"Coming together on the Lord^s day, breaking 
bread and give thanks, confessing your transgres- 
sions, that your sacrifice may be pure. And let no 
one who has a dispute with his fellow approach with 
you until they be reconciled, lest your sacrifice be 
profaned, for this is the sacrifice spoken of by the 
liOrd : "In every place and time bring me a clean 
sacrifice, for I am a great King saith the Lord, and 
my name is wonderful among the nations.'^ 

At the time "The Teachings of the Tw^elve 

Apostles" was written the Lord's day was the day 



40 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

of public assemblies of the Christians for the cele- 
bration of the Lord's Supper, and other acts of 
Christian worship. It Yv^as the Sabbath and observed 
as such throughout the Church. 

6. Ireneus, A. D. 170 — 202, in his work against 
Heresies, book IV. chapt. 16, speaks of the Sab- 
bath as a sign given to the children of Israel, Which 
had its fulfillment in the Kingdom of God. He 
says : — 

"But the Sabbaths taught that we should con- 
tinue day by day in God's service. * * * 
Moreover, the Sabbath of God, that is the King- 
dom, was as it were, indicated by created things, in 
which (kingdom), the* man who shall persevere in 
serving God shall in a state of rest, partake of God's 
table. 

2. "And that man was not justified by these 
things, but that they were given as a sign to the 
people, this fact shows that Abraham himself, with- 
out circumcision, and without observance of Sab- 
baths, believed God, and it was imputed unto him 
for righteousness ; and he was called the friend 
of God." — Ante-Mcine Library, Vol. I. p. 48. 

This passage proves that the Church in the 
time of Ireneus did not observe the Jewish Sabbath ; 
but that it was looked upon, like circumcision, as a 
sign which had its fulfillment in the Kingdom of 
God — that it was typical of the rest of the Kingdom* 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 41 

7. Turtullian, A. D. 200—220, is explicit on this 

subject. In his book on Idolatry, chapt. xiv., he 

says : — ■ 

"The Holy Spirit upbraided the Jews with their 
holy days. *Your Sabbaths, and new moons, and 
ceremonies, says He, ^My soul hateth.^ By us, to whom 
Sabbaths are strange, and the new moon, and fes- 
tivals formerly beloved by God, the Saturnalia and 
New Year's and midwinter's festivals and Metro- 
nalia are frequented — presents come and go — New 
Year's gifts — games join their voices — banquets 
join their din ! Oh bitter fidelity of the nations 
to their own sect, which claims no solemnity of the 
Christians for itself ! Not the Lord's day, not 
Pentecost, even if they had known them, would 
thev havi shared wiih us ; for they would fear lest 
they should seem to be Christians." — Anti-Nicine 
Library, Vol. III. p. 70. 

Here Ti^rtullian affirms that Sabbaths are 
strange to the Christians, but that they observed 
^^the Lord's day." 

Again, in his answer to the Jews, chapt, iv. Of 

the Observances of the Sabbath," he says : — 

"It follows accordingly, in that, in so far as the 
abolition of carnel circumcision and of the old law 
is demonstrated as having been comsummated at 
its specific times, so also, the observance of the 
Sabbath is demonstrated to have been temporary." 
-Ibid. p. 155. 



42 THE CHEISTIAN SABBATH. 

These testimonials are sufficient to prove : 

1. That during the first two centuries the 
Christians did everywhere observe the Lord's day, 
as their day of rest and religious worship, and that 
all of their public assemblies were held on that 
day. 

2. That they did not observe the Jewish Sab- 
bath, that it was "strange to them,'' and that it was 
only a sign like circumcision, and that it passed 
away with the law of Moses like circumcision and 
all the Jewish ceremonies. These facts prove that 
neither the Pope of Kome nor the Emperor Con- 
staritine changed the day of the Christian Sabbath 
from the seventh to the first day of the week, for the 
first day of the week was observed by the Church, 
as the Christian Sabbath, from the beginning, and 
the Jewish Sabbath was never observed by the 
Gentile Christians. 

But the question is asked : "Did not Constan- 
tine the Great, make Sunday a legal holiday, and 
by an imperial decree make it the legal Christian 
Sabbath." To this question, we answer Yes. Con- 
stantine was the first Christian emperor, and up 
to his time Christianity had no legal esastence, and 
he did legalize it, and legalized the Christian Sab^ 



THE CHKISTIAN SABBATH. 43 

bath along with the other institutions of Chris- 
tianity, but he did not institute the Christian Sab- 
bath any more than he instituted Chrisianity itself. 
He simply legalized that which already existed, but 
which up to his time had no legal recognition, but 
was under the ban of law, and had been the subject 
of persecution. Constantine did just what every 
state in Christendom has done — he recognized Chris- 
tianity with its established institutions by law, and 
put it under the protection of the law, and made the 
Christian Sabbath a legal holiday, because he found 
it among the established institutions of the Church. 
No one of intelligence and honesty will for a moment 
contend that this was "a changing of the day,'' for 
it was a simple recognition by law of the day already 
universally set apart by Christians as their day of 
religious worship and rest^ — their Sabbath. 

The conclusion from the foregoing facts is irre- 
sistible, that Jesus and His Apostles did set apart 
the day on which He arose from the dead, to be ob- 
served by His Church as the Christian Sabbath, and 
that it has been so observed by His Church from the 
day of His resurrection, and that those who seek to 
turn the Christian Church back to the observance 
of the Jewish Sabbath, are doing so right in the 



44 THE CHRISTIAN SABBATH. 

face of the command and example of the Apostles^ 
and the universal practice of the Church during the 
first centuries of Christianity. 



m3 



